Notice at 7:32 the shelf in the backgroud "offerings to the speed god".

I thought BMW's required selling of a family member to pay for the repair and sacrificing a goat to get it to running again.

My friend with an '06 1200GS asked me to look at why he was having trouble with his ABS system. Took me an hour to figure out that the button behind the brake lever was sticking. I lubed it and it started working but it only lasted a few months because I didn't use $45 a tube BMW switch lubricant.

Rather like doing an aircooled Beetle and they don't need clutches often.

Much love for my old Airheads but the newer sort imitate all the annoying characteristics o modern German cars. The mysterious habit some twins have of wearing out rear tires, the absurdly small rear suspension roller bearings, brake hoses that disintegrate internally (inexcusable in any motorcycle new enough to have hydraulic brakes!), and general maintenance unfriendliness turn me off. Of course their aftermarket is severely limited.

The rapid depreciation almost tempts me to buy one though I dislike working on them. A stripped down oilhead (with ABS discarded) might be fun. BMWs go dirt cheap at auto auctions. One gent at Barber last years Vintage fest had a trailer full of salvage K-bikes he couldn't sell despite including the trailer. It was gone this year, perhaps to the crusher...